


Let the Adults Talk

by QuilSniv



Series: The Age of Marvels [2]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Spider-Man (Comicverse), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: But he's getting better, Don't question it, F/M, Post-Days of Deception, Scott and Rogue are dating, Spider-Dad is Best Dad, The Marvel Universe is still healing, Tony is still a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-22 13:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16599017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuilSniv/pseuds/QuilSniv
Summary: Peter, Carol, and several other heroes gather to discuss the future of their sidekicks.





	Let the Adults Talk

Everything was stale.

The air was stale. The beer was stale. The pretzels were stale.

But that was okay. That meant that they were out of the public eye and could carry out whatever they needed to out of costume without somebody taking a picture of two X-Men, the leader of the Mighty Avengers and three nobodies sitting in a bar.

Not because they had to have to talk about this out of costume, but because they wanted to. This was part of the new age of heroes. Freedom from the costume was a new luxury they could now afford. It was a very new experience, however, so it was no surprise that the atmosphere was incredibly awkward, but that freedom was still there.

Finally, somebody spoke.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet up here.” Of course Peter Parker got the first word out. And, given his newfound clout within the superhuman community, he’d likely also have the last. “With MJ and Annie, I can’t usually make last-minute trips to meet up with other supers.”

“Yeah, because none of us can fly.” Richard Rider came next. His Nova helmet rested on the table, next to his bottle. “And it’s not like we can’t slipspace between places whenever we want.”

“Not the ability, Rich,” Peter chuckled, taking a sip of his light beer. “Just the availability. Besides, you’re one to talk, being in deep space most of the time and all that.”

“Pfft.”

Carol pushed away her drink, as it stopped in the center of the table, interrupting the banter. “I’m guessing you’re all wondering why I called you here today.” Carol pulled a crisp, freshly used manila file from her jacket, and dropped it at the edge of her small corner of the table.

Five more files came up. One from each of those assembled, including an extra from Carol. Names on the files drew the attention of everybody assembled.

Cynthia Jacqueline Moon.

Maria Aracely Penalba.

Samuel Killian Alexander.

Julian Keller.

Gregory James Willis.

Kamala Yasmine Khan.

Their sidekicks. Some already here, others future. Their futures.

“Yeah.” Peter spoke up, after an awkward silence as files, manila together but with varying degrees of aging attached to them, sat on the table in a disheveled pile. “We’re here to talk about the kids.”

Another deafening silence swept over the room, as they stared at the pile of files in the center of their table. Peter spoke up. “So, who wants to go first?” The silence continued, as Peter lunged for his file and took it off the stack. “Guess I’ll start.”

“Figures.” Kaine leaned back into his chair, taking another large swig from his bottle. “Of course, he’d open his damn mouth first.”

Peter scoffed, opening the file to show several pages of data on his sidekick; strength statistics, psych evals, the works. “I’m worried about Cindy.” The genuine concern in his voice shut everybody up from making jokes about how attached he was. His partnership was a frequent source of comedy in the superhuman community, but something about how he talked about his protégé in this context worried them.

“Ever since she became Silk, she’s been more and more closed off and spending more time in the suit. I don’t know… Maybe if we put her into this program—with kids her own age instead of having her cling to me as an anchor—it’ll help her resume a normal life.”

A resounding silence, sobering for everybody who knew Silk, passed through the room. Nobody in the group except Peter knew the exact details of her possession during the Symbiote invasion. But if Peter was willing to stop cracking jokes to talk about his sidekick? Something was wrong.

Cyclops and Rogue were next; but with Spidey setting the awkward atmosphere, even Scott’s lips breaking apart cracked through the air like a whip. “Julian is becoming a bit more… unruly than usual. Especially since, with all the new mutants that have been arriving, he’s been getting a lot less authority.”

Not a lot of the people present knew Hellion personally; only Scott and Rogue. Most had heard of him in passing or when talking to the X-Men. The only outsider with experience around him was Peter, and that was as a substitute during the staff shortage when Logan took off with X-Force. Most outside heroes knew of him through Peter’s blunt and honest opinion, forged through several weeks of personal interaction: an impulsive, stubborn hothead with a short temper and too much raw power to balance said temper. Rogue remained silent, because as the joint headmistress (A perk of dating Scott and being a senior X-Woman) they never made a statement without one running it by the other.

That said, the power was there, and Julian had potential; all that remained was to mold that potential.

Carol sat forward, sipping from the only non-alcoholic beverage at the table. “You’ve got Kamala’s file there, right?” Richard nodded, having been reading the file, and handed it back to Carol. Opening it, Carol pointed to a report of a terrorist attack in Jersey. “This was her origin. Terrigen bomb, she got caught in the mists and boom. She’s like a cute Mr. Fantastic.” A short pause. “Don’t tell Sue.”

The failed attempt at a joke only managed to raise several pairs of eyebrows. Scott coughed lightly, breaking the silence. Carol frowned, then continued.

“Anyway, this kid is a good choice. She’s young and crafty. Plus, she named herself using my old name. That’s dedication, and kind of warrants taking her under my wing.” Another pause. “What? It does. I’ve talked to her; she’s a huge fan of superheroes.”

“Let me guess, she’s your biggest fan.” A resounding chuckle erupted from the group as Kaine kicked back his beer. The only silent one was Carol, still glaring at Kaine.

“As a matter of fact, yes. And she didn’t come to me, I came to her. She’s learning, but she’s still really green.” Carol dipped her Captain Marvel-themed swizzle stick (One of several things still around from her retrospectively horrendous PR campaign to cover up her previous fiascos) into her sparkling water, choosing to overlook Kaine’s remark. “And, given that I’m overseeing the Avengers and all of the other activity going on, I haven’t really had time to give Kamala proper training.”

“This program would be good for her.” Peter sat back, twiddling a cube of ice between his fingers. “I’ve read the reports of a girl playing superhero in Jersey. I take it that it’s the new Ms. Marvel?” A nod from Carol confirmed his suspicions. “I’ll tell Cindy to watch her back and help her in your place.”

“Actually,” Rogue said, making her presence known again. “We were hoping Hellion could take the lead on the team; putting him in charge of something would make him sit back and think about the consequences.”

“Especially,” Scott finished, putting down his drink. “If the Avengers are breathing down his neck.”

Peter shook his head. “I’m going to say no to that one. Aside from Hellion being a mess of a person, Gravity has more experience and more control over his temper.”

This time, it was Kaine who was frowning. “You’re saying we put the leadership of a team of impressionable kids on a person whose greatest achievement was dying. Sure, real inspiring.” A series of glares came from the rest of the group, to which Kaine replied. “I’m just saying. The Willis kid has talent, but there are better picks.”

“Are you nominating your sidekick to lead the team?” Richard said, as the rest of the group tensed. They liked Hummingbird, personally, but objectively the collective opinion was she was a bit too… energetic for her own good.

“I am. And if Aracely isn’t supported, then Silk should lead the team.” Though most of the people assembled didn’t know Kaine that well, it must have been uncharacteristic enough for Peter to change his posture and take notice.

From Peter’s perspective Kaine rarely said anything that wasn’t bluntly rude or sarcastic, especially about the younger members of their community. But to play “Uncle Kaine” and nominate what was essentially his adopted niece was a left field play-weird, but within the realm of possibility.

“Sure. Because Sam can’t lead.” Rich came forward now, his hand resting on the Nova helmet folded in his pocket. “I volunteered him for this team because his self-esteem is in the toilet. He thinks he’s worthless. Maybe something to make him feel important would take his mind off taking his dad’s place.”

They all knew the story. Rich had sent the new Nova helmets across the cosmos, to recruit the next class of space cop. Originally, Jesse Alexander was supposed to be the Nova of Earth; instead, his son, Sam, was chosen, and Rich had taken him on as his sidekick.

“Everybody we’re throwing into the pot has self-worth problems.” Peter’s voice was firm and stern, catching everybody off guard. “But we can’t prioritize our own kids’ problems before the others. That’s why we made this team in the first place.”

The door to the bar flung open, sunlight pouring in and catching everybody at the table off guard. A man with an expensive suit, pencil moustache and the most punchable face in the world walked in, moving over towards their group.

“That’s why I called in a neutral party.” Peter’s mouth twitched as Tony Stark sauntered up next to him, making himself an easier target for punching.

Carol stopped herself from laughing. “Pete, I’m honestly surprised. You called in Tony?”

“It surprised me too.” Tony smirked, straightening his tie as he took the last available seat. “Honestly, though, I’m here to help. Besides, since I’m retired for now, I figured it would be a good way to get out of the lab.” Tony leaned forward, tossing a small holographic display into the center of the table. “Especially since I know a lot of people in hard-to-reach places.”

A hard-light hologram shone in their corner of the room. In the projection stood a young woman, who couldn’t be older than her late twenties, of Asian descent with bright pink hair tied in a bun and wearing a lab coat. The rest of the group studied her statistics while Tony rambled on.

“Toni Ho. 27 years old, doctorates in magnetics, cybernetics and bio-engineering from MIT. Works freelance, but she takes contracts from Stark Industries. She’s independent and smart, young enough for the rest of your kids to look up and relate with.” A short pause to let his next sentence have impact. “Old enough to know she’s in charge and who she reports to.”  
Another silence followed up, with Carol standing up and putting her drink down.

“I think that does it for our lineup. Is everybody in agreement?” No one spoke in objection. “Good, then. We’ll get the kids together, let them know about all of this.”

“We have our Young Avengers.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this prose was to explain the placement of several different younger heroes, as well as to establish the status quo for both the X-Men and the sidekicks. 
> 
> Cyclops and Rogue dating was a risky move that I wanted to roll the dice on because it's a genuinely unexplored pairing, (One that fascinated me on retrospective viewings of X-Men: Evolution) and has a thematic element that I want to expand upon in the future.
> 
> Regardless, the meat of the story is dedicated to establishing the new Young Avengers team. There were some retcons established as to how some characters got their powers and how old they are (Kamala had to be totally retconned since "Infinity" never happened and Sam was brought up as a sidekick instead of the last Nova.) as well as varying radically from the traditional Young Avengers team. Each member has a different type of baggage and power set that they bring to the table, and having them bounce off of each other will be a blast to work with. (Especially since I've spent the past two years developing Cindy's character over in FNSM.)
> 
> Either way, more is to come.


End file.
